What we had done well was thought to be the progress we had made in digitising the collection and the efforts of both Hampshire County Council and Leicestershire County Council were noted. It was felt that our efforts had rubbed off on other organisations as we saw an increase in similar projects elsewhere. The main achievement was that the Collection was now better understood by the Austin 7 Community, we were now sharing it and that we were seeing a steady stream of donations and loans as a result.

What we weren’t doing quite so well was the rate which we were getting through the tasks. We had a small team and although we had done well up to now, we had been working on relatively simple parts of the collection. Future areas (eg photos, engineering drawing etc) would need a larger group of people to be involved if we were to get through it in a reasonable time frame. It was agreed we would appeal for more volunteers to join the group, hopefully, people within a 50 mile radius of Lubenham who could attend without too much difficulty.

Oral Histories.

Viewing figure on the Bob Wyatt page shows since launch 238 visits to the page from 161 different people. Large spike to listeners just after launch down to 5-7 a month after. We had two more interviews in post-recording editing – Ian Dunford and Tom ‘the Pom’ Newsome. Others were planned – specifically Ken Cooke had agreed to an interview. (Action NT)

Catalogue

There is still some slight confusion of how the cataloguing system will work between the work that FL does in creating and amending catalogue entries and the creation of the Web site by CC. FL will discuss this with CC and document procedures (Action:FL/CC)

What we still had failed to do was to start recording physical locations of items in the collection. Up to now, items would be easy to find (eg Handbooks) However, with the increasing number of show brochures and such things as photographs and Engineering drawings to come, this information becomes vital. HB will provide a document outlining the procedures to be followed to both create such data and how and where it should be recorded (Action HB/PB)

It is imperative that we start separately recording Accession records, recording details such as donor, terms of donation, Loan items, details of returning loan items etc. A pro-forma has already been provided. (Action PB)

Web site

CC provided the following web site statistics:

Having launched just over a year ago (29th Aug 2016) there have been 28,813 Page views from 3827 users. Spending an average of 4 mins 35 seconds on the site each. 52.08% of visitors are new while 47.9% are returning visitors. Most popular countries in order – UK, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, USA, Germany France…

35.86% of viewers are using a tablet or mobile device.

43.4% of viewers come direct (type in archive.a7ca.org) while 29.1% come from a link from another website, 21.5% from search engines and 6.1% from Social Media (Facebook, twitter etc)

RD provided an initial list of Show Brochures provided by Russell Curtis. CG will check this list against the actual items provided and provide and updated, accurate list to FL for cataloguing. This collection will be added to the existing Show Brochure pages (Action: CG/FL/CC)

CC has prototyped a format for the GdH collection that will display the Album in the form of a book where pages can be turned on screen. The GdH collection will be created as a separate collection. HB has already scanned a selection of Press Cuttings to accompany the Album (though these are fragile and need conservation) Cataloguing is required. CG will supply the wording for an introduction on the web site (Action: HB/CG/FL/CC)

Further developments will include Engineering Drawings, photographs and the Lou Kings family Archive that CG is currently reviewing. To that end, FL took away all the Engineering Drawings for review carrying on her existing project to sort them into A7, A7 related and non-Austin groups before cataloguing. Cross referencing to existing digital images is already part of that process to give ‘quick wins’ for image publishing on the Archive Web site (Action FL)

The large collection of photographs needs to be sorted into the same 3 groups before any other work is undertaken with them. PB will ask DM to help in this task (Action PB/DM)

Lou Kings collection: CG will review contents. The feeling of the group was that although much of the collection was Austin 20 related, we should digitise and publish it all. HB can scan the photos at no cost, so it will be no overhead to the Project. (Action CG/HB)

Next steps

The priorities for the next 12 months where we should see significant progress are as follows:

Photographs to have been sub-sorted and filtered. Priority photos to have been digitised and published. NB – comments to be enabled on photos to allow update by knowledgeable persons (Action first PB/DM then FL/CC)

Engineering drawings to have been sorted and filtered. Where existing images are available, these should be catalogued first and republished on the Archive site (Action FL/CC)

The Archive has no stated Acquisition Policy. It was felt that one should exist. CG and HB will draft one for review (Action CG/HB)

RD will contact an Austin 7 owner he knows as a potential researcher for items that appear on Ebay etc that might be of interest to the Archive (Action RD)

HB demonstrated to PB how one could set up a recurring search on Ebay with email notification for items of interest. PB will look at setting this up. (Action PB)

The Accommodation issue has largely settled down after a summer of uncertainty. However, all were asked to keep the potential for a move at short notice in mind and keep an eye out for likely accommodation if we were to move away from Lubenham.

This highlighted the need to have better ‘physical location’ data held on the catalogue should we need to move.

Publicity

Grey Mag articles are still a requirement. HB will write a quarterly Project update , PB will write an article on an item of interest. Where historic photos are concerned, it should be the norm that a supporting researched article should go with them, rather than just publishing the photos. (Action HB/PB)

A PPT presentation for Clubs is to be drawn up the idea being that Project Team members can use this to give a talk to their local Clubs. HB will do this for the Cambridge Club in November and has offered to do the same for the other Clubs in East Anglia (Action HB/NT)

It was though that a formal ‘Press release’ would be a good idea. HB to contact a potential Author for such a thing (Action HB)

Now accommodation had been settled at Lubenham, it was decided we should have a further Open Day in Spring 2018. No date is yet set.

AOB

FL raised the topic of disposal of inappropriate Archive material (she has found many engineering drawings for example) As a start, PB will invite David Morgan to come and review the Military items we have in the collection with a view to finding a better home for them. (Action PB)

It was suggested that a couple of specific people should be invited to join the project Team. HB will contact them (Action HB)

PB showed the group some recent acquisitions. A Sept 1927, GE Silent Saloon leaflet, Tony Betts had agreed to bid on our behalf at the Edmonds auction, £60. A Sept 1923 Le Mans racers photos lead came via Robin Boyce and we paid €270 for a series of 3 photos of the individual cars and has just agreed to pay another €70 for a start line photo and some press cuttings. HB will scan these and a more comprehensive article will be produced for the Grey Magazine. (Action HB/PB)

Just a reminder that the Association Archive will be holding its next Open Day on Sunday April 2nd 2017. The Archive, as you may remember, is held at the Headquarters of the Triumph Six Sports Club, Main St., Lubenham, Market Harborough LE16 9TF.

The Archive will be open between 10am and 4pm and there will be displays of the various collections we hold. Members of the Archive Project team will be on hand to help you explore the collections and talk about our progress with the Project so far and our plans for the future.

The last Open Day was very well received and hopefully, those of you who were unable to come last time, will be able to arrange it for this time.

Teas and Coffee will be available and there are a couple of decent pubs in the village that do food for those of you looking for something more substantial..

The finalists in the 2017 National Car Club Awards, in association with Tourism Ireland, have been revealed. This year has seen the most nominations from clubs and club members to date.

Supported by Classic Car Weekly, and endorsed by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, the overall Award winners will be announced at the awards dinner on Saturday 1st April at Birmingham’s NEC.

Lee Masters, Director of The National Car Club Awards, said: “We had 209 nominations, which is 25 more than the inaugural year and it’s fantastic to see the clubs embrace these awards. Once again, the standard of entries was extremely high with a fantastic mix of clubs of all sizes. “Some of the categories had over 30 entries and reducing these down to a shortlist was extremely difficult, making that place on the shortlist even more valuable and an incredible achievement.”

A total of 16 awards will be presented at the glittering ceremony, hosted by Mike Brewer alongside the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show. The shortlist covers eight of the award categories with the finalists for the Lifetime Achievement award still to be decided. The other six awards will be decided by the judges on Saturday and presented their prize at the awards dinner. There will then be a ‘Judges Special Recognition Award’ presented to a club that the panel feel has gone the extra mile in the classic motoring movement. Two members from every club shortlisted for an award have been invited to attend as guests of the National Car Club Awards and Tourism Ireland and will be treated to a drinks reception and a complimentary three-course dinner. Further tickets will be on sale for those wishing to attend. For more information, visit www.nationalcarclubawards.com

PB,CG to have arranged to meet (or preferably have met) with owners of collection of archive materials

Both visits will take place in the next couple of weeks (and definitely before the next Team meeting)

HB Paint project ongoing work

HB continues to work with the A10DC – providing them with details of the cards we have had access to and negotiating whether we could borrow theirs for photographing (depends on NT’s availability) The set consists of some 48 cards.

PB to follow up with contact for Stanley Edge Military material

The gentleman who will visit is waiting for the weather to improve before he travels to view the collection

CG – Clayton DeWandre materials long term home

CG took the collection with him and will transport to Lincoln when convenient

NT further interview candidates identified (CG to follow up with Austin Apprentices, AL to follow up with Austin Village)

Ian Dunford to be next interview candidate. CG is in contact with Ex-Apprentices organisation. AL has written to 2 local Birmingham papers and placed an advert in the Austin Sports and Social Club. PB will contact Barney Sharatt, author of Men and Motors of the Austin – the inside story of Longbridge

HB to create photo catalogue spreadsheet ‘pro-forma’ for trial

HB to organise a ‘how to’ document for cataloguing photos

HB to discuss trial photo publication with CC

See item 5 in minutes that covers Progress items f, g and h

Scanner

Through the extraordinary generosity of an Austin 7 owner (who wishes to remain anonymous) and good fortune, we have been donated by an exactly the type of scanner we had been recommended to acquire by both Hampshire County Record (HCC) office and Faye McLoed, Archivist at Jaguar LandRover. Currently, this is at HB’s house where he is learning the complexities of the ‘Professional’ settings on the software used to drive it. Very high quality images should be created using it, hopefully reducing our reliance on HCC and therefore, Project costs. There will still be specific artefacts that will require the more professional workmanship of HCC, but certainly, things like our photograph collection it is envisaged, we will be able to digitise using it.

There was a discussion as to whether we should keep the automatic sheet feeder that came with it and it was decided that we should as there maybe time in the future when we would want to do volume scanning of (say) Club Magazines etc..

HB mentioned that we would need to acquire certain other accessories enabling us to scan 35mm slides etc, and he was authorised to do this. (Subsequent to the meeting, HB realised that it was not only a holder that was needed to slot the slides into, but that we would need to acquire a slide scanner attachment that replaces the lid of the scanner with a mechanism for illuminating the slides from above when being scanned. HB is researching this)

Photo Collection

With the scanner now acquired, we can set to digitising our photo collection. PB (aided by DM) was asked to select 50 photos of the highest priority for publishing by the next meeting. HB will scan those. HB will work with other members of the Team to set up a ‘distributed’ group that will have access to the images to catalogue them, provide descriptions and to publish them on the Archive Web site.

Archive Web update

Potential for use of existing drawing images

The existing set of Engineering Drawing images were reviewed. It was decided that these could be published, after a suitable catalogue entry was created for them all. It may be necessary to re-image some of them, depending on the standard of the original scans, but any images published can be described as will be replaced with better quality images as time permits. HB will discuss this with FL as her next cataloguing task.

Reordering of Index Cards

RD has provided David Howe (DH) with printed images of a sample set of cards that will allow him to physically juggle them until he has come up with the best order possible. At that point, DH will provide RD with the new order details, ask CC to create a trial page in the new order for the Team’s review and comment.

Oral Histories

It was decided that the next person to interview would be Ian Dunford, who could talk about the early days of the Association (and no doubt, his extensive history in the Austin 7 world in general)

It should also be noted that we have been granted permission to publish the EC Gordon England interview that has recently been tracked down. Thanks go to Coventry University ‘Curve’ Project, who hold the original and the perseverance of Austin 7 owners Marcus Ling, Ian Williams and Bryan Norfolk who all played a part in tracking down the interview and transcript.

There was also a suggestion that we contact Tom Newsome, who drove an Austin 7 from Melbourne in Cambridgeshire to Melbourne in Australia if he might do something. CG will follow up.

Budget

As reported in previous meetings, our un-committed funds are in the region of £3500. We still await the bill for the latest HCC digitisation of the Show Brochures. Expenditure at Leicestershire County Council recently invoiced is to be asplit between restoration of existing artefacts (not to come from Digitisation Project Funds) and scanning of drawings requested by PB.. No other expenditure has been made by the Project since the last meeting.

Publicity

Open Day

Now confirmed as Sunday April 2nd. There was a discussion regarding the details of the display. It was agreed that we would not replicate the last display but create a different layout with other artefacts on display. PB was asked to come up with a plan, as last time, to show how things would be laid out. IT was also suggested that we play some films. After a discussion about the possibility of the Assn. acquiring a digital Projector, PB said he had been given one the Archive could use. CG will retrieve the Trophies from secure storage. There was also a comment about the Bert Hadley Trophies currently on loan to Donnington at some point being returned to the Archive. PB will follow up with Geoff Roe to confirm details.

Newsletter

RD was thanked for editing the most recent Project newsletter, recently distributed. RD thanked all those who had made a contribution to the newsletter that had made its creation a straightforward task. RD asked that HB contact all Clubs and Registers asking them to forward the Newsletter on to their membership to extend coverage. This should be a specific request in all future newsletters.

NECClassic Car show Awards

HB reported that he had been alerted to these awards by CC (Webmaster) and that he had submitted a nomination on the Project’s behalf in the category ‘Web Site of the Year’ We will hear after February 6th if we have been shortlisted. Even if we get that far, then the publicity will be helpful.

AOB

Russell Curtis collection

RD raised the topic of Russel Curtis, an A7 owner in Australia has a remarkable collection of A7 materials that he has built up over the years and is prepared to share with the Archive. His daughter has the ability to create high quality scans at her place of work or, Russell will be visiting the UK this summer and may be able to bring some of his collection with him. PB was asked to go through the list of the Collection and pick out any items of particular interest we currently do not hold.

Recording of Collection

HB made the point that recording anything in a Word document was limiting and did not provide for any form of manipulation or ease of transfer into the main catalogue. He stressed the point that *any* recording of details should be done using an Excel Spreadsheet

Brochure retrieval from HCC

It was mentioned that the Show Brochure collection was still at HCC and need retrieving. CG said he would try and arrange to do that when he next travelled in that direction.

Gladys de Havilland photo album

The existing images of the GDH photo album were reviewed and deemed perfectly satisfactory for speedy publication. The collection has also been added to in recent years with a comprehensive collection of contemporary news cuttings. CG agreed to take on the task of reviewing the images and cuttings and coming up with a suitable ‘framework’ in which to publish them.

Austin ‘Charges’ books

NB asked whether the archive held a collection of ‘Charges for Repair’ books. PB replied that we did, but that they were not considered a priority for collecting or digitising at this time.

Thanks for donation

A discussion took place on the formal thanks to be given to people donating items to the collection. AL stated he had written to Mike Stewart who had recently donated his complete collection. This lead on to a discussion about what we should be able to do with duplicates of existing items within the Collection. It was agreed that our approach would be to have the authority to dispose of duplicates either by swap or by sale and that any funds so raised would be ring fenced to the Archive for acquisition of further materials. It was agreed that we should produce a policy document defining the approach and that it should be published in the next Grey Mag. A suitable precis of this should also be included in any communication with potential donors so it is always made completely clear as to our approach.

Stanley Edge TV film

CG reported that he is still on the track of the Stanley Edge TV film for publication on the Archive site but that tracking down and speaking to the right person is proving elusive. He has resorted to writing a letter to the contact he has been given..

Date of next meeting

Friday, March 3rd. Lubenham, 10:30 am. Note change of usual day of the week.

Task list for next Meeting.

PB and CG *must* have visited the holders of personal Archive Collections

HB to speak to NT about possibility of further photography of paint cards

PB to talk to Barney Sharatt to explore Oral History possibility

HB Scanner ‘understanding’

PB, DM to identify and extract 50 top priority photos for scanning

HB et Al to define ‘distributed’ cataloguing process for photos

CC to have built prototype Archive pages for photo display

HB to talk with FL regarding Engineering Drawing catalogue

HB to discuss prototype Archive pages for drawing display

CG to talk with Tom Newsome re Oral History possibility

PB to design layout for Open Day to include new displays

PB to test out digital projector for the running of films on the day

PB to check with Geoff Roe on return arrangements for Trophies held at Donnington

HB to request all Clubs to distribute the Archive Newsletter to their Members

PB to review Russell Curtis collection and (through RD) request items to be brought over (if possible) or items to be scanned locally and provided electronically *As Soon as Possible please*

HB to work with FL and CC to determine Excel pro-forms for record keeping

CG to collect Brochures from HCC

CG to design a way of displaying the GDH collection on dedicated Archive web pages

Donation and duplicate Policy Document and statement for Grey Mag. NB – although this was discussed in some detail, no-one was charged with producing this. HB to discuss with AL

PB,CG to have arranged to meet (or preferably have met) with owners of collection of archive materials

Arrangements in place for CG and PB each to visit the collections in January

HB to follow up on someone to maintain the Excel Catalogue file

Done. Fenella Leigh has been welcomed to the team and has started work on Paint Card and Brochure catalogue entries

PB to get copying costs from Wigston

Still not known. PB to chase

PB et al to have started using NB’s accessions procedures. PB to give examples

Not yet commenced HB to ask FL to set up a ‘pro-forma’ for PB to use.

Next Open Day. Decision early April 2017. PB to check date with Triumph Club

PB to confirm with TSSC that 2nd April 2017 is available

HB Paint project ongoing work

HB has provided A10DC with details of the paint cards we have access to for them to add to the details they already have. HB working with Craftmaster Paints with the hope that we can help in the creation of a range of accurate colours.

RD, DM, CC ongoing Index card re-ordering

RD has been working with a willing volunteer who has found the task daunting. RD is to provide print outs of all the card images from one section for that person to work with. RD to talk with CC regarding image numbering to be available on screen

CG (all) Flyer for 2017a to be complete by 1st December and submitted to Editor

Done

PB to follow up with contact for Stanley Edge Military material

PB needs to follow up.

CG – Clayton DeWandre materials long term home

CG has contacted Lincoln archives who are prepared to offer them a home

NT, CC – edit and publish Bob Wyatt interview.

Interview produced and edited. Now with CC to publish in December.

NT further interview candidates identified (CG to follow up with Austin Apprentices, AL to follow up with Austin Village)

Next candidate identified. HB to write requesting the interview. CG still in contact with Austin Apprentices but nothing yet. Suggestion we put something in the Longbridge local paper, Other suggestions noted for future potential interviews

The collection was discussed and it was decided that it needs to be gone through and prioritised. There will be many photos that may not ever need to be digitised or certainly not in the first pass. At this point, item 7.2, Scanner acquisition was brought forward for discussion. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that we should look to buy one. Long term, this will be a cheaper option than getting images copied professionally and that at the end of its use, it would still have a resale value. HB to follow up on the purchase. If we can’t find one with any form of guarantee, then at least having it demonstrated as being fully operational before purchase is a must.

Methods of use were also discussed. The concept of a ‘distributed’ approach will be trialled in the first instance. The scanner will be housed with one person (possibly/probably HB) who will scan photos and create a single simple line entry on a dedicated catalogue. FL will also be able to access this and will fill out further information. Finally, others can contribute with the addition of description and any other further details. By approaching it this way, the workload is shared.

Sorting through the photo collection and prioritising a first ‘set’ will now be a task for the Thursday group.

Archive Web update

Paint card images are now complete and with CC. Brochure images have been completed and sent by HCC to CC. CC also has to hand the audio files of the Bob Wyatt interview. FL is well on with the cataloguing of the paint cards and brochures that CC will need in readiness to upload to the Archive Web site.

Introductions are required for each ‘set’ HB will do Paint Cards and Interviews. PB to provide suitable wording for Brochures. Publication date for new materials is set for December 15th, so these need to be provided immediately.

Potential for use of existing drawing images

HB referred the group to many images of engineering drawing that were already published on the Association web site and that these should be catalogued and brought into the new Archive area. Although they may not be of the quality we strive for now, they should be considered a simple source of images to add more resources to the Archive. Quality can be reviewed after their publication and decisions made as to whether they need replacement with better quality images

Similarly, RD has a series of images of a Stanley Edge notebook which he can provide for use. Another Stanley Edge notebook also exists. RD will liaise with CC to create a new section of the archive dedicated to Stan.

Budget

As reported in previous meetings, our un-committed funds are in the region of £3500. Outstanding amounts include the Brochures digitised by HCC, initially quoted at £1625. However, some 14 of the 76 items sent were photocopies and not copied given our decision to only copy original materials. This should reduce that cost, somewhat.

Digitisation

Contractor for future work

The decision has clearly been made that we will use HCC for all digitisation work in the future. We have had excellent service from them, their work is of the highest quality and our relationship with them underpinned by them knowing exactly what we are trying to do and guiding/advising us accordingly.

Possible Scanner acquisition

As stated in item 5, the decision was taken to purchase an appropriate quality scanner. HB will follow up on this

Publicity

Even though we have had articles in the Grey Mag, posted updates on A7Friends forum and alerted the wider A7 community to minutes etc posted on the Assn. we site, there are still people who say they haven’t heard of the Archive Project and don’t know of the web site. RD referred to the Dorset Club having re-printed the last Project newsletter in its entirety in their Club Magazine.

RD will take on the production of the next Newsletter making reference to Paint Cards, Brochures and interviews that are next to be published. HB will write a short paragraph on the Paint Cards. NT will be asked to write a paragraph on the Bob Wyatt interview, PB will write a paragraph on the Brochure collection. HB will pass the newsletter in electronic form to all Clubs, Registers etc, asking them to include it in their next publication. The newsletter to be ready for release, mid-January.

HB suggested that we undertake a specific ‘outreach’ program with Project Team members offering themselves to Clubs local to them to provide a talk to their Members. HB will draft a Powerpoint for Team review that can be used by anyone undertaking such a talk.

By the Spring, there will be sufficient material posted on the web site to warrant encouraging an article in national Magazine such as the Automobile etc for further publicity.

AOB

A steady stream of contributions to the Archive seems to have started. A recent collection kindly donated by a 7 owner is on its way. An 11kg parcel of Austin publications and other materials is already in the post. This will be followed by slides and photographs taken between the 1950s and the 1970s. Similarly,

PB showed the group a detailed drawing of the Cambridge Engineering body that had just been donated.

It was agreed by all, that donated material should be dealt with speedily – catalogued, digitised and published at the earliest opportunity. Should the donations contain duplicates of material already in the collection, then the best copy should be kept and the duplicates used to furnish other items for the collection –either by offering them as swaps or sale to raise funds. Those people donating such items should be made aware of this approach.

The ‘Stanley Edge’ collection, already referred to should also contain a video of a Central TV program about him made in 1984 by Central TV. CG will follow up with a contact he has that used to work for Central TV to attempt to gain permission to publish it (dealing with copyright issues)

PB and CG to arrange to meet with owners of collection of archive materials

Arrangements are in hand to visit one soon. Both visits should be arranged (at least, if not completed) by the next meeting.

HB to advertise for someone to maintain the Excel Catalogue file

HB has had a tentative approach from a possible candidate which is being followed up

PB to follow up with A10 Drivers Club re paint sample project

Ongoing – both with A10DC and Craftmaster Paints

PB to deliver show brochures to HCC and collect the 2 sample engineering drawings

Done

PB to deliver the 2 engineering drawings for quotation. Quotation to be available for next meeting

In the end, Wigston were asked to copy the drawings and have done so. No quote was provided and the cost is as yet not known. HCC have supplied a comprehensive quote, with options. A comparison will be made when Wigston costs are known.

NB to draft Accessions/Catalogue process document

Done. Subject to any further discussion, there seems no reason not to adopt these.

Decision on early April. PB to check with Triumph Club to firm up date. Should be known by next meeting

CC to provide photos of Open Day

Done

HB to write Open Day article for Grey Mag

Done

PB/DM to write introductory pieces for each style of digitised material

Done

CC to implement ‘place holder’ image for show brochures

Done

CC to remove references to copyright from web site

Done

HB to discuss with Assn. Treasurer Web Master’s honorarium.

Done (and paid)

RD to undertake pilot project in re-ordering index card pdfs

In progress. See later report

CC to provide RD with appropriate software for his task

Done (in essence – a manual process has been identified)

HB to remind HCC of our delivery/collection of materials

Done

CG to draft ‘flyer’ for 2017A Grey Mag

Done. CG will circulate for discussion.

HB to discuss flyer with Treasurer and Editor

Even though it was not seen as a good idea by the Editor, the Team have decided to go ahead. There are still people who are not aware of the published materials

CC to instigate go live of archive web site Sunday 28th August

Done (hurrah! Well done all!)

HB to do appropriate announcements on A7Friends, CC to deal with Facebook and Twitter

Done

CG to draft Press release for early 2017

In progress

PB to follow up with contact for Stanley Edge Military material

David Fletcher, recently retired from the Bovington Tank Museum will come to Lubenham to examine the collection. PB to arrange

CG to follow up with Lincoln Museums re Clayton Dewandre materials

Despite a number of attempts to contact, no response was received. We need to continue with this

NT to undertake oral history recording with Bob Wyatt

Done. Nick Turley in the throes of editing the recording

HB to discuss with NT opportunities for further interviews

Done. NT happy to undertake 4 or 5 more over the coming year.

CG to consider appeal to Austin Apprentices for any archive materials they could loan or donate

After contact, the Austin Apprentices Assocation are interested in forging links. They may also provide likely interview candidates. It was suggested that the Austin Village group may also be an interesting interview prospect. Al to follow up

Photo Collection sorting

RD had been investigating possible approaches and had sought guidance from both Faye McLeod and Heather Needham. Please take time to read the full report found in Appendix A but salient points and recommendations are as follows:

Usual preference is cataloguing according to provenance, not always possible if you have a large tote of photos. (RD – I suspect that we come largely under this banner with perhaps the exception of D-H albums etc).

We need to establish whether to go down the scanning or photographing route, guided by the material we have– (RD -I suspect that scanning will suffice – do we have any photos over A3, slides, transparencies or negatives, We will need to consider file types, resolution, etc. All need to be factored into the scanner capabilities spec.)

Comments from Faye

Advice on the headings that we should record under:

Suggestions are – Model/Model derivative (you need to agree a pre-determined list of terms in order to ensure consistency), Setting/Event, People featured, Date

We need to take into account any copyright information – for example, is there a photographer’s mark on the back of the print. Is that photographer still in business? Can you find the relevant copyright holder? Reproduction rights – is this an orphan image, or has the copyright holder given you permission?

Careful thought needs to be given to catalogue IDs. See full report for examples

Digitisation:

Faye suggests that a large collection would be expensive to outsource and that scanning by hand is entirely achievable with a suitable scanner/s.

Practical advice was given on types of image taken and archive storage standards to follow. See the full report for details

Recommendations:

Write an A7CA “how to” document for cataloguing photos.

Create blank spread sheet with additional headings, if necessary, and begin the process of cataloguing what we have, storing in pockets and marking the outside with our decided coding

Website – Chris Charles to be commissioned to construct a trial photo archive template with moderated comments section and search facility for review and comment.

Undertake a pilot project with (say) 20 photos, taken at random from the collection, to give a cross section of materials we will deal with

Research and purchase scanner/s

Archive Web Site review

RD had been working with a couple of well-respected Austin 7 owners with good historical knowledge and had asked them to review the Index cards on line and provide feedback. Please take time to read the full report found in Appendix B but the salient points and recommendations are as follows:

Feedback from A

A need for chronological order (earliest to latest).

Need for clarity between the two columns, for example there is no explanatory link between BA and Crankcase etc.

A need to explore and cross reference the cards with the drawings referenced in the handbooks, ideally a pop up picture when hovering over the part number in the cards and a list of chassis numbers that used a part illustrated in the handbooks.

Feedback from B

Check that the write up at the start should is correct e.g. BA refers to the ‘Crankshaft’ when it should be the ‘Crankcase’

Looking at ‘Shock Absorber’, I clicked on the word and no data was there. Only when I clicked on the ‘BU’ did I get the cards I was looking for.

I agree the cards are in the order they are in the Longbridge drawer, that is only logical as last entry would always come first but for best use first card ie earliest must come first for logical use.

Then there must be a cross reference on the page that you can click onto to get up the relevant Spare Parts List, not everyone would have a hard copy to hand. Reference to the Part No.s and either description or image is essential to understanding the cards.

Over time, it may be that a ‘commentary’ could be added to the cards adding extra information (such as dimensions etc) See the full report for an explanation of this point.

But all in all having the cards available is a great leap forward in the understanding of the evolving design of the Austin Seven and A7CA are to be congratulated.

Recommendations

Small trial section developed to see if pop ups and commentary can be added to the PDFs – is DM prepared to share his text to assist with this task please?*

Rearrange PDFs to show earliest first.

Come up with new headings or explanation for the BA (etc.) labelling.

DM offered to review the ‘doubling up’ of some sets of cards (eg BA and crankcase) with a view to rationalising them and adding clarity

*DM is still not willing to share any of the text details from the List of Production changes booklet until all copies are sold, so other ways of linking Index card details to spare part images will have to be found.

Budget Position

As per last meeting, the Project still has some £3500 uncommitted. With an eye to the future, the purchase of a scanner may well be in the region of £1000 for one of appropriate quality and capabilities (and that may be second hand – new would be twice that price possibly) Epson Expression 10000 would be the sort of standard to be aiming at.

Digitisation

Show Brochures with HCC are yet to be started as their photographer is finishing his previous commission. They are next in the queue. HB has arranged to borrow 5 different brochures, some of which are already in the Archive, some of which are not. But all are in better condition that we have at the moment. Thanks to Adam at Craftmaster Paints. We will include them in a future tranche of digitisation sent to HCC

Wigston have provided a copy of the Coupe drawing. HCC have done so also and the 2 can be compared and discussed at the next meeting, as can the other two drawings that have been dealt with.

Publicity

CG showed the group his first attempt at a Flyer for inclusion with 2017a Grey Mag. The group will continue to discuss and refine this over email in the coming days. Press date for 2017a is 1st December 2016.

RD reported that there are still people, well versed in the world of Austin 7 that still are unaware of the Archive web pages. The flyer (and other approaches) are still needed.

It was suggested that something published in the Automobile magazine would be worthwhile. CG has a contact on the Editorial team and will follow this up.

AOB

Date and time of next meeting

Thursday December 8th, 10:30 at Lubenham

Task List for next meeting:

PB and CG to have arranged to meet (or preferably, have met) with owners of collection of archive materials

HB to follow up on someone to maintain the Excel Catalogue file

PB to get copying costs from Wigston

PB et al to have started using NB’s accessions procedures. PB to give examples

Next Open Day. Decision on early April 2017. PB to check with Triumph Club to firm up date.

Paint project ongoing work HB

RD, DM, CC ongoing Index card re-ordering

CG (all) Flyer for 2017a inclusion to be complete by 1st December and submitted to Editor

PB to follow up with contact for Stanley Edge Military material

CG – Clayton DeWandre materials long term home

NT, CC – edit and publish of Bob Wyatt interview.

NT further interview candidates identified (CG to follow up with Austin Apprentices, AL to follow up with Austin Village)

HB to create photo catalogue spreadsheet ‘pro-forma’ for trial

HB to organise a ‘how to’ document for cataloguing photos

HB to discuss trial photo publication with CC

HB to undertake scanner research

DM to provide recommendations as how to ‘merge’ duplicated Index card headings

Both owners of private collections have been spoken to and will be visited by PB and CG in the coming weeks.

Follow up with VSCC regards copyright (Action CG)

No further action has been taken with the VSCC subsequent to guidance received by Hampshire County Council that all of our materials appear to be out of copyright

Digital Archivist progress (Action HB)

Further attempts to encourage our only candidate to reconsider his withdrawal of interest have met with no response to follow up emails. HB will issue another request for help, this time narrowing the tasks required to maintenance of the Excel Catalogue

Paint chart progress – A10 Club project etc (Action HB, PB)

A10 Club have not come back to us since initial contact. PB to chase. HB has borrowed the paint cards from his contact and they are now being photographed by Nick Turley

Delivery of Brochures to HCC arranged (Action HB, PB)

PB will visit HCC Offices on Friday September 2nd to deliver the brochures. He will also collect the two drawing s they have had for sample costing process

PB will deliver the two drawing s used by HCC for sample costing process and direct costing comparison. Wigston quotes to be available for review by next meeting.

During this part of the discussion, it was suggested that we should have a formal process defined as how accessions should be handled. NB will draft ((Action NB)

Provide digitisation technical details to PB for Wigston (Action HB)

Done (PB to check email inbox – HB to resend if necessary)

CC to set up Mailing List (Action CC)

Done. 20 subscribers so far. More to be encouraged. Advertise in Grey Mag, A7Friends and Grey Mag (Action HB)

NB to speak to his local garage (Action NB)

Done. Agreement in principle. NB to pursue. Upholstery sample collection is of interest.

Open Day review

It was agreed by all the day was a great success. We had welcomed some 30 visitors, many of whom had stayed much longer than either we or they expected (Comments on Austin 7 Friends refers to one visitor, arriving at 11am expecting to stay an hour, who was still there as we cleared up at 4pm). Name tags for Project Team members had been a particularly good idea. It was suggested that for a future open day, visitors should also be given something similar. HB will write a piece for the next Grey Mag describing the day. CC to ask his Father to share the photos he took on the day to give an additional set of photos to go with those taken by NT to illustrate the article.

It was agreed we should hold another Open Day in Spring of 2017 – either April or May. PB to look at possible dates. (Action PB, HB, CC)

Photo sorting

This is to be the next piece of work by the Thursday Team. Some discussion was had about best approaches to this work. It is important that a strategy is chosen to avoid duplication of or unnecessary work to keep effort to a minimum. An approach that enabled a catalogue to be produced as part of the work was to be pursued.

It was decided that we should devote the majority of the next meeting to dealing with this.

Archive Web Site review

CC gave a demonstration of the current version of the web site he has built. The Team as a whole were impressed by the quality of the work and CC was congratulated on his approach and efforts generally.

HB said that he wished to see the web site Live at the earliest opportunity but there were a number of issues that required resolution before that could happen. The point was made that when Users first engage with the site, we have to do our utmost to ensure they understand what they are seeing and how they can navigate through the detail. We have one opportunity to catch their interest and, if there are any problems, we will lose them. It will be very difficult to entice them back after that. Consequently, we have to be able to provide as much information as possible to help them with understanding what we have available.

All data sets will require some form of introduction.

After review, it has been seen that the Index Cards may not be in the most suitable order for historical research. Many of them seem to be in ‘reverse’ order – ie, the most recent parts come first tracking back by date This might make sense from an ‘engineering’ perspective where an engineer would need details of the most recent revision of a part.

An introductory preamble will be written by PB/DM explaining the order of the cards and the likely reason behind it, the best way to navigate through them (with the possibility of using the Parts List booklet soon to be published). It will also refer to the mini project that we will undertake to re-order the PDFs into chronological order. (Action PB, DM)

A similar introduction is required for Handbooks and Parts Books. This will not be as complex as the order is more intuitive as they are published and listed on the web site in date order.

Reference will be made however to the missing items and will contain an appeal for loan or donations of missing items. (Action PB, DM)

The Trophy collection will need a lesser introduction as well, but should have some wording. (Action PB, DM)

In readiness for our next tranche of digitisation CC asked to photograph a sample Show Brochure to act as a ‘placeholder’ on the appropriate page on the Archive site. (Action CC)

Following guidance from HCC, all references to Copyright to be removed from the web site. (Action CC)

HB to follow up Honorarium payment to CC with Hon. Treasurer. (Action HB)

RD to be asked to pilot a project in re-ordering the Index cards PDF into chronological order. CC to provide advice on suitable software to do this. (Action HB, CC, RD)

CC to implement a ‘feedback’ option to gather observations on the new web site from Users (Action CC)

Budget Position

As per last meeting, the Project still has some £3500 uncommitted.

Digitisation

PB will be taking the Show Brochures to HCC Friday September 2nd. HB will remind Heather Needham of HCC they are coming. PB will also collect the 2 engineering drawings they have assessed for digitisation. HB raised the prospect of a return to a Heritage Lottery Grant at some time when we have a better understanding of both the photograph collection and, more specifically, the engineering drawing collection. The latter are likely to be individually quite costly to do. HB asked PB to start assessing the number and approximate sizes of drawing we will need to digitise. (Action HB, PB)

Publicity

CG suggested an A5 flyer insert in the Grey Mag. After some discussion it was decided that we would do this in 2017A. This will give us time to prepare the flyer (timescales to short to get it into the next issue) and for the web site to settle down and undego any improvements needed as a result of feedback and review. CG to draft and circulate. CC will reformat the text into a more ‘eye-catching’ format for printing. The Project will bear the cost of any funding required for this. HB to inform Editor and Treasurer (Action HB, CC, CG)

HB will write his usual article for the Grey Mag focussing on the Open Day and the launch of the web site. This will contain a further appeal for a Digital Archivist, albeit with a reduced job specification (mainly maintenance and ownership of the Excel catalogue) (Action HB)

When the web site is launched (likely to be Sunday 28th August, announcements will be made on A7 Friends (both in the ongoing Archive Project Progress thread and an Archive launch specific), Face book and Twitter (Action HB, CC)

It was also decided that in early 2017, we should issue a formal Press release regarding the Project (likely recipients being FBHVC, The Automobile etc) CG to draft (Action CG)

AOB

David Fletcher, recently retired from Bovingdon Tank Museum, was suggested by David Morgan and endorsed by Bob Wyatt as a possible contact who would take the Stanley Edge Military archive. PB will liaise with him to come to Lubenham to review the material.. (Action PB)

NT is in contact with Bob Wyatt over recording his ‘oral history’ Other candidates were discussed. HB to discuss with NT his willingness to carry on the project with other candidates. (Action HB, NT)

CG will look at writing something for publication in the Austin Apprentices journal asking for any archive materials that people may wish to donate or loan (Action CG)

The possibility of ‘watermarking’ all Archive images was discussed briefly but no decision taken. The mood of the meeting was this may not be necessary. We will return to this topic in a future meeting. (Action all)

HB reported that a number of other organizations have shown interest in our Project. Mail has been exchanged with the Historic Caravan Club and the TR Register. We have also had contact from the MG Car Club.

Date and time of next meeting

Sunday 9th October following on from the Association Meeting. The Dun Cow, Dunchurch

Task List for next meeting:

PB and CG to arrange to meet with owners of collection of archive materials

HB to advertise for someone to maintain the Excel Catalogue file

PB to follow up with A10 Drivers Club re paint sample project

PB to deliver show brochures to HCC and collect the 2 sample engineering drawings

PB to deliver the 2 engineering drawings for quotation. Quotation to be available for next meeting

On Thursday 21st July 2016, members of the Archive Project were joined by staff from Hampshire County Council and Austin Seven Owners in Winchester for the handover of the first batch of digitised material.

This marks the beginning of the digitisation of materials from the Archive in Lubenham.

The Archive Room of the Austin Seven Clubs’ Association will be open from 10.00am ‘til 4.00pm on Sunday 14 August. The Archive has a large number of original handbooks and parts books, advertising literature, brochures, drawings, Stanley Edge and Bert Hadley material, together with a fine selection of cups and awards. Progress to date on our digitising project will also be on display. This is an opportunity to look at the vast amount of resource we have and meet up with members of the Archive Team and fellow enthusiasts.

No appointment necessary – just turn up. We will be delighted to see you. Refreshments are available with some good pubs in the village!

The Archives are situated at: The Triumph Sports Car Club Limited premises, Sunderland Court, Main Street, Lubenham, Leicestershire LE16 9TF. (Situated four miles west of Market Harborough on the A4304. Parking available on site).

Loan agreed but details need sorting out. They are not for long term loan and details of how and when they are to be used need to be worked out. HB to discuss with PB

This is a joint project started by A10DC (Tony Mealing) to put modern paint references to the unknown base colours of prewar charts. PB has already sent Tony a photocopy from about 20 show brochures within our archive.

Photo Collection sorting

Work has started by the Thursday group with initial sorting having seen duplicates and irrelevant photos weeded out. First sub-sorting is into cars/people/places and will develop from there.

Archive Web page development update

CC gave a demonstration of his initial prototype work on the Archive pages. He has. built a completely new set of pages that will be added to the Association web site when complete. Early progress is encouraging and met with the group’s complete approval. Chris is keen to get hold of the digital images from HCC to load.

Open Day

PB shared with the group a detailed plan both in what would happen before and on the day and a schematic showing where everything will be placed. The staffing of the hourly rota was discussed. It was decided that a minimum of 10 people would be required on the day. A quick discussion showed that those 10 people could come from the Project Team. Other aspects of discussion were

There should be specific invitations to the following:

Tim Thornton, Jeweller (responsible for some of the Trophy restoration)

Members of the Hadley family

Peter MacFadyen – independent photographer and ‘Automobile’ magazine

Bob Wyatt – Association President

Michael Ware – ex Beaulieu. AL to invite

It was agreed that we could show the Austin Publicity films on the laptop. AL to provide DVD if needed.

Hazel Gore to be approached to give history of the full size RP saloon drawing

Chris Garner will supply some wording for CC to put on the home page of the Assn. Web site. HB will ask for the event to be advertised on the home page of A7Friends.com

I think it got overlooked in discussion – have we arranged for a photographer and article Author for the event?

Budget

A further £5000 has been agreed from Association funds. With monies already committed and further estimates for Brochure digitisation and Web development Honorarium taken into account, the Project now has £3500 in reserve.

Digitisation

HCC have completed the first tranche of work. That will be collected by a local Chummy owner (to be arranged through Bernard Griffiths). PB will talk to Bernard Griffith to arrange. Collection planned for a day between Monday 18th July and Friday 29th July. HB to alert HCC. CC will let PB and CG know when he will be in Brighton and can attend. Project will be represented by PB, CG and CC.

PB will deliver the Austin Brochures to HCC on Friday 2nd September

A discussion took place regarding digitisation of engineering drawings already at Leicester CC (Wigston). It was agreed that they should be asked to digitise one drawing as a sample and HCC asked to digitise another so a comparison could be made. CG suggested the engine and gearbox drawings would be ideal. HB to provide digitisation technical details to PB for Wigston.

Publicity

CC plans to set up a mailing list that interested parties can sign up for. This will be for circulating news related to the Archive Project only..

AOB

NB to pursue his connection with a local garage (to him) who may have a collection of interesting items